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Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
Baldwin’s narrative tone in Another Country is bracing and often uncomfortably raw, which directly reflects the intensity of its subject matter. The third-person narrator—although they take a mostly sympathetic stance toward the characters’ choices and their confrontations with interracial dynamics and violence—does not hold back when it comes to describing the sexual and social politics of late-20th-century New York. However, it should be noted that while Another Country certainly explores painful and deeply uncomfortable realities, it also celebrates the richness and incredible creative output of Black urban culture during this period of time. Telling truthful stories about racial and social inequalities while also representing Black culture and characters in a deeply empathetic way is a hallmark of Baldwin’s work.
The narrator’s tone becomes journalistic and terse when addressing systemic issues such as racial and economic inequality. It’s a noticeable change when the tone shifts to the appreciative and affirming register it uses to describe the vitality of Black city life. Many important moments in Another Country reference jazz and blues music, genres of art which also address hardship and joy simultaneously.
The tone also changes depending on the perspective and situation of the character the narrator focuses on. For example, when Rufus is the focus in the novel’s first chapter, the tone is dour and anguished. As the narrator describes what happens to him, Baldwin infuses the narrator's words with Rufus’s sense of alienation. This is a technique known as “free indirect discourse,” where an author blends a third-person narrator’s voice with a characters’ inner thoughts. This approach allows the writing to shift fluidly between the internal and external worlds. By mingling the narrator’s voice with those of the people they describe, Baldwin brings his reader much closer to characters' hopes and fears.
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